The Diddy trial: The rise and fall of Sean Combs
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 May 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In early 2023, Sean Combs — otherwise known as Diddy, Puff Daddy, Love — seemed to be on top of the world. He had a long career as a successful music producer and businessman, and he received multiple honors for his work — even getting a key to the city of New York from its mayor. But that fall, everything changed when his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he’d sexually abused and sex trafficked her throughout their decade-long relationship.
This opened the floodgates. Dozens of other alleged victims came forward, and soon Combs found himself at the center of a federal investigation into his businesses. After arresting him in September 2024, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment that Combs used his business to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson and bribery. He’s now awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail.
For the next month on “Post Reports,” we’re going to be following Combs’s trial, which starts Monday. You’ll hear regularly from reporter Anne Branigin, who’s been closely following this story since Cassie filed her lawsuit, as well as other Washington Post journalists from the Style and Audio teams. On today’s episode, Branigin describes how the Combs rose to fame and power, and what he is now being accused of.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson. It was edited by Reena Flores and Carla Spartos and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Maggie Penman, Lucas Trevor, Amanda Finnegan and Renita Jablonski. The episode also features Janay Kingsberry and Helena Andrews-Dyer, reporters for the Style section of The Post. Geoff Edgers contributed to this report.
Follow our coverage of the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs on Spotify here.
Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Ella Hey. I know it's been a little while since you heard from me, so I wanted to just say a quick hello and also let you know we're going to be doing something a little different on the show. Today, we're kicking off our coverage of a trial that could change the music industry, |
| 0:21.4 | the trial of Sean Combs, the hip-hop mogul, also known as Diddy. |
| 0:27.4 | I'll be back usually on Fridays with my colleague Anne Branigan, |
| 0:31.2 | a reporter for the style section at The Post. |
| 0:34.3 | Anne has been covering this case closely, |
| 0:37.1 | and will be in New York City throughout the trial, |
| 0:40.0 | which starts next week. So over the next several weeks, we'll hear from Ann and our other colleagues |
| 0:46.2 | in style and audio. But for today, I thought to hand things over to Anne to get the whole backstory, |
| 0:53.6 | on Combs' rise, his past legal troubles, and how |
| 0:57.7 | the feds came to investigate him. And just a warning, this episode contains explicit language, |
| 1:03.9 | as well as descriptions of violence, sexual acts, and sexual assault. That's going to come up |
| 1:09.9 | early in the episode. Okay, here's Ann. |
| 1:15.1 | Tania Wallace met Sean Combs back in 2018. She went to one of his homes on this island in |
| 1:20.9 | Miami, where a lot of celebrities live, Star Island. I'm filming in my Snapchat, us arriving on Star Island. |
| 1:29.0 | I'm looking at all the palm trees. |
| 1:31.1 | I captioned it like Pea Diddy's house is lit. |
| 1:34.1 | Wallace was a singer, and she was looking for a big break. |
| 1:37.6 | She had met someone who knew Combs, also known as Diddy, P Diddy, P. Diddy, P. Diddy, Puff Daddy. |
| 1:42.9 | She told the post, that's how she got the |
| 1:45.0 | invite to the party on Star Island. Wallace only met Combs once. But this party would change |
| 1:54.3 | her view of the hip-hop star and the entire industry around him. What she saw on Star Island |
| 2:00.3 | would be just a passing glimpse into Combs' |
... |
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